doctor

A1 Topic:Health & Medicine

US /ˈdɑktɚ/ UK /ˈdɒktə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #363

Meanings

1

noun
A person who is trained and qualified to treat sick or injured people.

If you still feel unwell tomorrow, go and see your doctor.
2

noun
A person who holds the highest university degree in a subject.

She is a doctor of philosophy in physics.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who is trained and... doc physician medicmd

More gpsawbones surgeon

Word family

Forms doctoreddoctoringdoctors

Derived forms antidoctorbedoctorcleaning-doctorcolor-doctorcolour-doctordedoctordocdoctor-boxdoctor-fishdoctor-gumdoctor-shearsdoctor-stuff

Related forms docentdoctoranddoctorate doctrinedoctrixletters preceptor proctor professor surgeon

Appears in

Phrases (4)

See all

call a doctor
phone or summon a doctor, especially in an urgent situation

Verb + noun
see a doctor
visit or consult a doctor for medical advice or treatment

Verb + noun
family doctor
a general practitioner who treats all members of a family and knows their medical history

Adjective + noun
consult a doctor
seek professional medical advice from a doctor before acting

Verb + noun

Proverbs (2)

See all

Simplified etymology

Doctor comes from Latin doctor, “teacher.” In Middle English it denoted any learned person qualified to give an authoritative opinion, especially a Christian theologian, and began to mean a medical expert around the start of the 15th century.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *deḱ-der. Proto-Italic *dokeō Latin doceō Proto-Indo-European *-tōr Proto-Italic *-tōr Latin -tor Latin doctorbor. Old French doctur Anglo-Norman doctourder. Middle English doctour English doctor From Middle English doctor, doctour (“an expert, authority on a subject”), from Anglo-Norman doctour, from Latin doctor (“teacher”), from doceō (“to teach”). Displaced native Middle English lerare (“doctor, teacher”) (from Middle English leren (“to teach, instruct”) from Old English lǣran, lēran (“to teach, instruct, guide”), compare Old English lārēow (“teacher, mas…

*deḱ- Proto-Indo-European doctor Middle English doctour xno

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Health & Medicine

External links

# doctor

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈdɑktɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈdɒktə(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 363

## Meanings
1. A person who is trained and qualified to treat sick or injured people.
2. A person who holds the highest university degree in a subject.

## Examples
- If you still feel unwell tomorrow, go and see your doctor.
- She is a doctor of philosophy in physics.

## Synonyms
- gp
- medic
- physician
- sawbones
- surgeon

## Derived Forms
- antidoctor
- bedoctor
- cleaning-doctor
- color-doctor
- colour-doctor
- dedoctor
- doc
- doctor-box
- doctor-fish
- doctor-gum
- doctor-shears
- doctor-stuff

## Related Forms
- docent
- doctorand
- doctorate
- doctrine
- doctrix
- letters
- preceptor
- proctor
- professor
- surgeon

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *deḱ-
- Root: doctor
- Root: doctour
- Affix: -or - one who

## Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *deḱ-der. Proto-Italic *dokeō Latin doceō Proto-Indo-European *-tōr Proto-Italic *-tōr Latin -tor Latin doctorbor. Old French doctur Anglo-Norman doctourder. Middle English doctour English doctor From Middle English doctor, doctour (“an expert, authority on a subject”), from Anglo-Norman doctour, from Latin doctor (“teacher”), from doceō (“to teach”). Displaced native Middle English lerare (“doctor, teacher”) (from Middle English leren (“to teach, instruct”) from Old English lǣran, lēran (“to teach, instruct, guide”), compare Old English lārēow (“teacher, mas…

## AI Etymology
Doctor comes from Middle English doctor, doctour (“an expert, authority on a subject”), from Anglo-Norman doctour, from Latin doctor (“teacher”), from doceō (“to teach”). In current use, the main senses are “A person who is trained and qualified to treat sick or injured people” and “A person who holds the highest university degree in a subject”.

## Topics
- Health & Medicine

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